


Breathing In Second Hand Smoke

by Branithar



Series: Wire [3]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Implied Childhood Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Sneaking Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24159793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Branithar/pseuds/Branithar
Summary: Luke sneaks out to hang out with Michael.This can be read spoiler-free at any point after Chapter 5 of You've Cut The Wrong Damn Wire.
Series: Wire [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1742266
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	Breathing In Second Hand Smoke

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I'd write a bit of background for Luke and Michael to kinda examine their relationship a bit more.
> 
> Title is from Black by Hands Like Houses.

Michael turned up the heater, eyeing the sky through the window. Though it was freezing outside, it didn’t look like it would rain tonight. Luke had messaged him earlier to tell him he was going to try to sneak out, but he often didn’t make it out after all. 

Just as he was starting to worry, Michael heard a soft knock at the passenger window. He unlocked the door and grabbed the bag of Macca’s off the seat to make room for Luke, then started the car and pulled off the curb, hoping nobody had seen them. They would definitely make assumptions about Michael waiting in his car for Luke to show up in the middle of the night and they would probably talk about it. Luke didn’t need questions about his late night activities coming back to him. 

“What’s that?” Luke asked, eyeing the bag in Michael’s lap. 

He noticed that one of Luke’s eyes was black and so swollen he probably couldn’t even see out of it. “Macca’s,” he replied, passing him the bag. 

“Oh my god.” Luke almost snatched it out of Michael’s hands and shakily dug out the burger, tearing the wrapper off and wolfing it down. 

Although Michael had felt bad about only being able to grab some shitty Macca’s this late, Luke ate like it was the most delicious meal he’d ever tasted. It probably felt like it, given how often Luke missed meals despite Michael’s best efforts to bring him plenty of food at school. He’d been getting pretty tall recently and needed a lot to stave off his near-constant tiredness. 

As he drove, Michael gestured vaguely at his own eye. “Is that from…”

Luke shook his head as he chewed. “I asked Brent if he could start giving me herion again and he got mad.” 

Michael nodded. “How long has it been?” 

“Two weeks, I think? Fitzy made me take some last time he came over.” 

As much as Michael hated Luke’s customers getting him addicted to whatever they gave him to make him more enjoyable, seeing him crash and fall apart without the drugs hurt. At least getting high made it all just that little bit easier for him. 

Luke slowed as he ate and Michael stopped worrying that he was going to choke and throw up again. He hadn’t minded buying him more food to make up for it, but Luke had felt bad the time that happened, guilty about wasting food and Michael’s money. 

“Think you can sneak any of that home?” Michael asked when Luke had finished his fries, pointing at the shopping bag on the back seat. 

Luke reached back to grab the bag and rummage through it on his lap. “Might try a couple of muesli bars,” he said, “The disinfectant would be a good idea too, if I can.” 

As Michael pulled up to the car park by their favourite beach, Luke reached to the backseat again, this time for the jacket, trackies and beanie Michael always kept there for him. The jacket and pants were mostly because Luke never had warmer clothes since they made too much noise and the beanie was to make him slightly less recognisable if anyone saw him out with Michael. There were shoes too, but he didn’t want them tonight. 

When Luke had pulled the clothes on, they stepped out into the cold night air and headed for the sand. 

“Do you think we could start…hanging out after school?” Luke asked as they walked. 

Michael glanced at him. “Won’t he be mad about you coming home late?” 

“He’s gonna beat the shit out of me anyway,” Luke replied, “He always finds something to be pissed about.” 

“Yeah, but…” Michael looked down at his feet. “What if he kills you? By accident when he’s _really_ pissed or something.” 

Luke shrugged. “He’s probably gonna kill me eventually anyway. Might as well try to have fun before it happens.” 

“Move in with me,” Michael suggested, looking at him. 

Luke shook his head. “He _would_ kill me if I actually tried to leave.” 

“We’ll both leave after graduation, then. We could go somewhere far away where he won’t be able to find you.” 

Luke stared at Michael. “Really?”

“Yeah! We’ll move to whole different state, dude. We’ll move to _Perth_ if we have to.” 

Luke smiled and looked at the sand around his feet. “Perth,” he repeated with a laugh, “Yeah, why not? Let’s go to fucking Perth.” 

Grinning, Michael shook his head. “I’m serious, man. Wherever you wanna go.” 

“Japan?” Luke challenged. 

“I’m doing pretty good in Japanese,” Michael bragged, “ _O genki desu ka?_ ”

“ _Hai, genki desu!_ Yeah, we’ll fit right in!” 

They found a spot to sit down the beach, looking out at the dark waves and starry sky. 

Luke fidgeted with his sleeves. “Hey, um…”

“What’s up?” Michael encouraged.

“Can I kiss you?” 

Michael stared. “Kiss me?” 

Luke looked down again. “It’s fine if you don’t, I just…wanna know what it’s like.” 

“Okay.” 

He looked at Michael. “Really?”

“Yeah.” 

Luke seemed hesitant, unsure of what to do next, so Michael took his hand. “It’s okay, dude. You can kiss me if you want.” He leaned in a little, just enough to show Luke that he was okay with it. 

Luke hesitated as he leaned in, looking like he might pull away at any second. He didn’t, though, eventually meeting Michael’s lips as his eyes slipped shut. Michael held still, letting Luke call the shots until he pulled away and started fidgeting again. 

“Um…thanks.” 

“Anytime.”

Luke flashed him a brief smile. 

“Was that your first?” 

Luke nodded. “Pretty fucked, huh? I think the only first I have left now is going on a date.” 

Michael slowly wrapped his arm around Luke’s shoulders, giving him time to lean into his touch or pull away. Luke put an arm around his waist in return, snuggling into the embrace. 

“I mean it,” Michael murmured, “I’ll get some money together and next year we’ll fuck off outta here and never see any of those shitheads again.”

“That sounds nice,” Luke mumbled.

**Author's Note:**

> I run tran5rightsos on Tumblr! Feel free to send asks about this or any of my other 5sos fics!
> 
> Comments are always welcome.


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